J.S. Bach’s music viewed from a dazzling array of imaginative angles

By turns playful and meditative, impish and respectful of tradition, Colors of Bach dresses some of the best-known Baroque melodies in elegant modern fashions. Norwegian violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing is well served by three different arrangers, with the album’s pianist Tim Allhoff crafting an affectionate, lyrical take on the Air from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Third Orchestral Suite, Jarkko Riihimäki catching the composer’s joyful spirit in his foot-tapping rework of the Lutheran hymn Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g’mein, and Jan-Peter Klöpfel enriching Wohl mir, daß ich Jesum habe ( “Jesu, joy of man’s desiring”) with subtle layers of string and piano sound. Colors of Bach has been carefully constructed to lead the listener through contrasting, deeply affecting emotional states, just as Bach himself did in the original compositions from which these arrangements were drawn.